Why so many will be rooting for Gordhan

30 October 2016 - 02:01 By BRUCE WHITFIELD
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Imagine delivering a make-or-break presentation to your board, and the boss falls asleep. What kind of boss would fall asleep during a pivotal moment in their leadership when every word you said would have a critical impact on investor confidence and staff and customer morale?

If it's happened to you, you'll know there was either something horribly wrong with your content or its delivery, or the boss didn't appreciate the magnitude of the task you had been set.

There was nothing wrong with Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's stirring call to action to boost the economy this week, other than that he is going to tap you for a lot more tax in an increasingly kleptocratic environment.

He received an unprecedented standing ovation on the way in and then again after he'd delivered the medium-term budget policy statement, in which he told a series of painful home truths.

President Jacob Zuma was clearly completely shattered. Juggling naked self-interest with the affairs of state must be exhausting.

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At the time of writing, Gordhan was still on the court log to face a fraud charge on Wednesday, as the National Prosecuting Authority reportedly searches for evidence to bolster the allegations against him.

It must be burning a hole in the pit of Gordhan's stomach that he has been accused of corruption. But he is showing himself to be the ultimate pragmatist who understands politics and the pivotal role he plays on the frontline of financial integrity and fiscal responsibility.

His appeal to individual ministers to do their jobs to assist the national cause was masterful, and even his chiding of some was elegant - particularly his reference to SAA as the airline he is "supposed to be running".

If he is a crook who should be banged up in jail for allowing a colleague a financial advantage, in what appears to be standard government practice on early retirement, so be it. But allow me to submit some anecdotal evidence to the court of public opinion.

During his first tenure as finance minister I chaired a post-budget breakfast discussion at a large company in Sandton. The minister explained the National Treasury's thinking behind the budget and the process to get to the numbers.

Once we were done, the CEO handed him a gift bag with a Richemont brand emblazoned on it. The minister muttered something, but, not wanting to embarrass his host, graciously accepted it. Then put it on the floor next to his chair and left the room without it.

On a separate occasion, in front of more than 1000 people, it fell to me to thank the minister for his time, and I shamelessly used the opportunity on behalf of a group of entrepreneurs to deliver a note to him in front of the audience, making an appeal that greater attention be paid to the needs of entrepreneurs, who could be a source of perpetual recurring revenue for the fiscus.

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I removed the envelope from my pocket and he recoiled faster than you can say "Gupta".

"What's in there?" he demanded with a scowl. I explained and had to open the envelope on stage in front of the audience to show there was no cash lurking inside.

I also read the letter, a plaintive appeal for a meeting. Satisfied that there was nothing underhand, he took the letter but not without a look that counted as a clear admonishment for creating a situation that might have been misconstrued.

Those are two isolated events. Neither suggests Gordhan is a man who cuts corners or who will take anything that might amount to an inducement.

No one in the corporate audience would have seen anything wrong with his being handed an expensive gift or, indeed, accepting a letter from a well-known flag bearer for small business, but the minister understood that anything that might look even slightly untoward could taint him.

That's probably why many South Africans will be showing their support this week as he faces charges that simply do not add up.

Whitfield is a financial journalist, writer, broadcaster and public speaker on the political economy

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